August Furry.

As mentioned in several prior postings, August has forever been my "new year" month. While not welcomed with loads of glitter and drunken renditions of a song nobody actually knows the words to, it still launches my "life as I know it" into some other dimension. 

(Okay, dimension is a little dramatic, but safe to say it's never been the same thing twice.)

August not only has meant a new school year, but both of my AmeriCorps positions began in August. I always meet new people, get oriented to new things, and discover very quickly that I'm going to be incredibly busy for an unforeseeable amount of time (but still always take on more... whyyy...). Football season is right around the corner, which means things like Thanksgiving and Christmas suddenly become in countdown range. The last of the summer heat peaks and does its worst (usually right around the time I've had to move, which this is -hooray!- the first year in 6 years I haven't had to), and I use every available second to do fun things with friends before the school year eats my social life. It's chaotic and awkward and bittersweet, but August always makes for an interesting transition. It's amazing how I get to this point every year and wondered how I've arrived here.

True to my historical consistency, August 2011 is already picking up and setting new things in motion:

• For one, John survived the Bar. While relieved to have the darned thing over (if you see him, please don't ask how he thinks he did), it hardly meant things would slow down. Now tasked with job-searching and preparing for results that might not bode well, we've had to start asking the nit-picky questions and working through all viable options and possible situations we could find ourselves in the coming months -- a difficult quandary for the girlish spaz I am, afraid of uncertainty and too much seriousness. Granted, now that study time is over, we can have these serious conversations with proper adult refreshments. It makes us feel smart and sophisticated, a'la Doris Day and Rock Hudson:

Canvas art image found on www.barewalls.com
*Y'all know that's not sweet tea in there...

• Though I learned a lot and am grateful for the experiences I had at my grad assistantship last year (not to mention some of my most-favoritest-people-ever), I accepted a new position as a research assistant with a local grant writing firm in town. It's run by one of the professors in our program as well as the Women & Gender Studies program, and she's already been great to work for. A totally different change of pace and duty from my previous position, but she's really supportive of my fitness and sustainability endeavors (not to mention my photography). She also likes shopping for deals and lunch dates... I think we're going to get a long JUST fine.
  
• I've got an awesome schedule lined up with campus recreation and group exercise, and I'll be teaching a couple of my most faaaavorite formats.... for those of you able to attend my classes, let me know and I'll send you my schedule. :)
  
• As the new kid in charge of our student program, I'm a little nervous about my demands of leadership. Though small, we have a lot we hope to accomplish this year and I really hope we make it work - and then some. I'm really lucky to have a supportive team of fellow student executive members, not to mention some previous alumni who have made their time and talents available to us, so no matter what I think we're already off to a good start for this year. For any of you considering grad school, be sure to get involved with your student group... trust me, I'm pretty sure this is a major reason I've survived as long as I have.

So be advised my will and need to blog is always there, but my time and ability to get my brain to make coherent sentences at the end of the day may be fairly limited in the coming weeks. Just as August came as a surprise, I know September really isn't far off. But, hopefully, I'm better prepared for this year than I was the last one.

And hey, if not, I know where are all the great drink specials are now.

To those of you also experiencing the August Furry (and I know several of you are), know I'm keeping you all in my thoughts, too. :)

So HAPPY NEW YEAR!

**PS. I should've mentioned, too, the annual celebration of John & Celia is also in late August; we'll be celebrating our 9th year together on the 23rd. Makes August even more special... more to come. <3